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I'm free to say whatever I like, if it's wrong or right it's alright

2002 Olympic Moment: 10 Years Ago Today

There are some memories in Canadian sports that stick with us better than others. It was ten years ago today that Jamie Sale and David Pelletier received their gold medals at the 2002 Olympics. Many will remember that a judging scandal caused the Canadian pair to finish second to the Russians. After an investigation after the February 11 competition, the Canadians finally received their gold medals (along with the Russians) in a second medal ceremony on February 17. I remember watching both CBC and NBC’s coverage throughout those few days during these unprecedented events. Of course this also changed figure skating forever as a new judging system was introduced. Here is a video of the medal ceremony. You can continue after the break to see the Canadians’ free skate.

Some of my best Olympic memories come from the 2002 Salt Lake City games. If anyone has any of their favourite Salt Lake 2002 memories to share, please leave a comment.

Agreed. As great as the 2010 hockey tournament was, the 2002 tournament beat it IMO. Lots of great games, Slovakia and Sweden were out earlier than expected. And of course the final. I have a DVD of it. I’ll have to pop it in and watch it sometime soon. I haven’t seen it in more than 5 years.

The skating scandal of the 2002 Games was a mixed blessing. On one hand, it exposed what most diehard fans already knew, which was that there was much bias and underhanded deals going on when it came to awarding the Soviets/Russians medals. That’s the good part. But in an attempt to make the sport fair and objective, the International Skating Union developed a system that only a student at M.I.T. can understand. As a result, the sport has seen its viewership take a sharp decline in numbers.

What I will always remember about those Olympics was the magic between Sale & Pelletier. There have only been a few of those performances over the years where everything “clicks” and magic is created on the ice. Sale & Pelletier’s 2002 “Love Story” can now be added to that list.